Cat's Eye

Stephen King adapted two of his short stories and wrote the third into this screenplay of suspense. The first story concerns a man (James Woods) trying to quit smoking by signing up for a clinic. That clinic just happens to be run by the mafia and they literally mean quit smoking with a seriously tough employee (Alan King) behind it. Even if it means tampering with your family's lives. The second concerns an again tennis pro (Robert Hays) who takes on the game of his life after having an affair with a mobster who is a gambling addict. The third follows a cat trying to protect a little girl whose being terrorised by a little demon jester. The suspense is good. Alan King is very good as the seriously tough employee and Woods is always good.

The second is very good with a surprising twist at the end and the third is a take on of old fairy tales where good triumphs over evil.

A trilogy of entertaining black humor. The first story is the strongest with the best stars. Alan King is deliciously evil as the head of Quitters, Inc., an anti-smoking group that uses mob tactics to stop its members from smoking. James Woods is excellent as Alan King's newest client.

The middle story is somewhat weaker entry starring Kenneth McMillan as a mobster who makes a lethal bet with Robert Hays after Hays steals his wife from him. A good story but not as good as the first.

The last story is the weakest entry of the three. An evil troll is out to steal Drew Barrymore's breath in this silly story. Our title cat tries to prevent that. The special effects for the troll doll are pretty good and the ending is funny. All-in-all an entertaining entry in the Stephen King collection of movies. A C+/B-

An adaption of three of Stephen King's short stories, the linking theme being a cat whose purpose later becomes apparent. The first story, 'Quitters Inc' (from the book 'Night Shift') involves the titular company who will go to extreme lengths to ensure their clients quit the weed. 'The Ledge' (also from 'Night Shift') concerns a risky walk around a tall building. Both these stories are entertaining and filled with excellent humor and strong characters.

By comparison the third story, which is the climax to the whole thing, is pretty slow and dull, the only real humor being provided by a miniature troll-like creature. But this anthology is worth seeing for the first two stories alone, which are masterpieces.

Stephen King goes to the Twilight Zone in this anthology all connected to a cat who is looking for a distressed girl.

In fact the first two stories could easily sit alongside Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Director Lewis Teague is just the right director for this type of movie. A graduate of Roger Corman's school of filmmaking and he had done an episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

The first story has James Woods who tries to stop smoking. He visits a company that will make him stop or his loved one will suffer. He demonstrates it by electruciting the floor of a room which the cat is in.

Woods is tempted to smoke knowing he might put his wife in danger. It is blackly humorous and he realises once you stop smoking, do not put on weight.

The second story involves a casino boss who makes a bet with his wife's lover, Robert Hays. If Hays manages to walk around the thin ledge of a high rise building he can have his wife, if he does not Hays will be framed for dealing in drugs which has been planted in his car.

As Hays walks around the ledge the casino boss keeps things interesting by trying to put him off. However Hays gets an opportunity to the turn the tables.

The final story features Drew Barrymore as the troubled girl calling out to the cat. At night she is pestered by a malevolent troll who tries to steal her breath, the cat arrives to do battle with the troll.

Teague makes reference to other Stephen King adaptations. We see Cujo and Christine make Hitchcock type appearances and even the The Dead Zone is shown playing on television.

The first two stories are very effective in a twisted humorous way. The final story feels too long and seems more aimed at kids in a Grimm fairytale type of way.

A stray cat thinly connects three tales of terror from the pen of Stephen King. The first is about a man named Dick Morrison (very good performance by James Woods) who is looking to quit smoking. He goes to Quitters Inc. where he meets Dr. Vinny Donatti (Alan King) who has some radical methods to make Woods smoke-free. Drew Barrymore also plays Woods' daughter. The second tale is about a former tennis pro named Johnny Norris (Robert Hays) who meets up with the hubby Cressner (Kenneth McMillian) of his lover. Hays gives in (not wanting to go to jail for the drugs Cressner has planted in his car) and tries to walk around the ledge (if memory serves correct it is on the 30th floor) to go around the building to try and win his love back. The final story and perhaps to me the weakest, although still good is about the cat (which now takes a starring role) battling a troll within young Drew Barrymore's bedroom. A big reason why this may be the weakest to me is because while it does have some great work by Carlo Rambaldi in creating the troll is there is some green screening going on. Which by my eye doesn't look very satisfying seeming the two images do not blend anywhere close to good together.

I would say this movie is like CREEPSHOW-light. Being rated PG-13 it is not loaded with gobs of gore and generally some younger audiences can watch this to get introduced to Stephen King's work.

The first two parts are based on King stories from the book NIGHT SHIFT, which I would recommend you read. Stephen King may be my favourite horror novelist and the author I have the read most of. His novels are generally pretty good, but to me it is his short stories to me really rock and I love the way he writes his shorter stories.

There are also nods to Stephen King films of this time frame as well, like CUJO (who director Lewis Teague also directed) and CHRISTINE in the opening. During the opening part Woods is watching THE DEAD ZONE as well. Finally in the final part Barrymore's mom is played by Candy Clark and is caught reading PET SEMATARY.

In the end I would recommend this one as I have enjoyed it many times over the years.